If you are experiencing problems with your sewer service, there are many things that may be causing it. In all cases, you should first determine whether the problem is local to your home or is being experienced by your neighbors as well. If many homes are suffering from the same problem, you should call the Township of Hampton's Environmental Services Department to inform them of the situation. If the problem is just in your home, there are different choices you should make depending on the situation.

If you have slow drainage, you may have a blockage in your system, most often caused by disposing cooking grease and large foreign objects in the sewer system. Tree roots also can cause sluggish drainage when they infiltrate the sewers.

Contact the Environmental Services Department first at 412-486-0400, extension 312 or 303, between 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, to see if they can help you quickly solve your problem or refer your problem to a specialist.

If you have a sewer backup up problem after business hours, contact the Hampton Township Police Department by dialing 911.

Pre-moistened towelettes called "wet wipes" are becoming an increasing trend in our bathroom culture. Due to the convenience and comfort they offer, more people are opting to buy these wet wipes instead of traditional toilet paper. The fact that many of these wipes are being marketed as flushable, keeps them competitive with their paper rival as users are not forced to find some alternative means of disposing of them.

Unlike toilet paper, which normally dissolves in no longer than 24 hours, wet wipes may dissolve for weeks or months causing clogs that will have to be fixed by a professional plumbing service. Furthermore, if you have tree roots that are spidering into your sewage pipes, then these "flushable" wipes, these wet wipes could get caught on the roots that are making their way through your piping causing blockages.

And the problem doesn't stop there. If the wet wipes make it past your sewage plumbing, it may still cause problems through the Township's main sewer lines and also at it's sewage treatment plant. The Township's sewage treatment plant has been experiencing clogs and other problems associated with wet wipes for years. The plant struggles with aging infrastructure for years and the problem with "ragging" - when baby wipes, dental floss, paper towels, facial tissue, and other items not designed for flushing entangle sewer pumps.